In the prior art, many haul trucks are equipped with spring applied-hydraulic released parking brakes. Some haul trucks are equipped with an emergency parking brake release system. Often times, the emergency parking brake release system will not release the parking brakes due to leakage past the seals in the parking brake chamber. Cold temperatures and worn brake components can create this leakage problem. Under these circumstances the emergency parking brake release system typically does not supply the volume of hydraulic oil/fluid to build the pressure required to seat the seals in the parking brake release chambers.
Other disabled haul trucks require that a temporary hydraulic power pack be installed to release the parking brakes during towing. This option does not allow control of the parking brakes or monitoring of the release status of the parking brakes. In the case of an emergency, during towing, the parking brakes can not be reapplied. If there were a break away, the disabled haul truck would be completely out of control with no brakes applied.
Thus, there is a need to provide improved systems for control of the parking brakes of disabled vehicles, particularly heavy duty haul trucks. The present invention overcomes the drawbacks noted above and provides a method and system that allows for remote control of the parking brake of a disabled vehicle from the towing vehicle in an efficient and effective manner.